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Thursday, September 13, 2012

Niagara Falls, North Bay, Gravenhurst, Brampton, Mississauga, Guelph and I know that I’m missing some others.

We had dress-up tea parties with friends…

We bought hats in Niagara falls…

We fed the Lorikeets at Bird Kingdom…

I painted a canvas with my sister…

We have started a brand-spanking new school year! I have a grade 8; three in grade 6; a grade 5; a grade 1; and a kindergartner! Ella is loving the whole school thing. She will do just about anything for a princess sticker! :)

She still prefers to draw all day long!

(Guess who’s in the middle!)

The kids have sang. I’ve played piano. Scott has preached. God’s been faithful.

Lily tried her first lemon…

The kids have gone horseback riding…

…and fishing.

We’ve updated thechurch website. Check it out and let us know what you think!

The girls spent a week at camp.

They sang and Keona ended up on crutches. She is my daughter.

Lily got her first cold and lost her voice.

We have battled milk allergies and asthma.

We have forgotten diaper bags at churches and displays at the side of roads.

We have been to over 16 churches. Every single one has been Ella’s favourite!

We enjoyed camp fires in pyjamas…

Jeddy turned 6!

(He asked Grandma for a frog ;)

We have seen God answer prayers in amazing ways. The other morning during devotions, Jeddy prayed for a rainbow. I have no idea why! That night, there was the most vibrant rainbow I’ve seen in a long time right outside our window as he headed up to bed. I went to take a picture a few minutes later but it was already gone. Jed knows that God loves him and hears even the smallest requests.

We’ve seen kids fight in the van. In fact, Ella was yelling at Jeddy and then we heard him start crying. When we asked her what she did, she said, “I poked him in the eye…”

When we finished hiding the laughter that came out of sheer shock, we asked her why…

“Cause he was ‘noyin me!”

Ah… well, by all means, go ahead and poke him in the eye then.

Traveling in a van with 10 people isn’t always as peaceful as it sounds.

We got a DOG. Um, yes… We got a puppy! Though he doesn’t look like much of a puppy anymore. :)

Meet “Justus”

He’s our 11 week old (in this picture)- now 13 week old, Great Dane.

He was 16” at the shoulder and 31lbs when we got him. Two weeks later, he’s 21” at the shoulder and 38lbs. They say that he’ll be 100+lbs by Christmas time. We’re doing all the training we can fit in while he’s still moveable!

The kids adore him.

He adores yogurt. In fact, he refuses to eat his food unless we smear it with natural yogurt first. He’s kinda like a really spoiled 2 year old boy- with way too much energy!

We’ve been busy. To say the least.

I’ve snapped at kids when they didn’t deserve it. Scott and I have taken frustrations out on each other… but we’ve had a lot of fun. We’ve made a lot of memories this summer.

Keona said to me the other day while we were folding laundry together, “Mom, I hope I find someone that I love as much as you love Dad one day…”

Which meant a lot to me. She sees us all the time. The good, the bad, and the ugly. She has seen us fight over the silliest things because we’re stressed out. But she has also seen us make each other laugh, joke when we’re tired, work together to get things done, pray together when there is nothing else that we can do… she has watched us be best friends through life.

Without getting all sappy…

I’m thankful for our very crazy- but “once in a lifetime” summer. One that we, as a family, will definitely never forget.